Reaffirming the obligation of States under the Charter of the
United Nations, in particular Article 55, to promote universal
respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental
freedoms,

Recalling its resolution 33/173 of 20 December 1978 concerning
disappeared persons, and its resolutions 46/125 of 17 December
1991 and 47/132 of 18 December 1992 on the question of enforced
or involuntary disappearances,

Recalling also its resolution 47/133 of 18 December 1992
proclaiming the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance as a body of principles for all States,

Emphasizing that, in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of
Action, the World Conference on Human Rights welcomed the
adoption of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance and called upon all States to take
effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures
to prevent, terminate and punish acts of enforced disappearance,
(1)

Noting that the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances considers the adoption of the Declaration to be
the most encouraging development since its establishment in
respect of efforts to combat enforced disappearances, especially
in so far as it recognizes that the systematic practice of such
acts is of the nature of a crime against humanity,

Expressing concern that, according to the Working Group, the
practice of a number of States can run counter to the
Declaration,

Convinced of the need to continue implementing the provisions
of its resolution 33/173 and of the other United Nations
resolutions on the question of disappeared persons, with a view
to finding solutions for cases of disappearance and eliminating
enforced disappearances, duly taking into account the provisions
of the Declaration,

Convinced also that further efforts are needed to promote
wider awareness of and respect for the Declaration,

Deeply concerned about the persistence of the practice of
enforced disappearances in the world,

Concerned about the growing number of reports concerning
harassment, ill-treatment and intimidation of witnesses of
disappearances or relatives of persons who have disappeared,

Reaffirms that any act of enforced disappearance is an
offence to human dignity and a grave and flagrant
violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms
proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
(3) and reaffirmed and developed in other international
instruments in this field, as well as a violation of the
rules of international law;

Recalls that all acts of enforced disappearance are
offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take
into account their extreme seriousness under criminal
law;

Reiterates its invitation to all Governments to take
appropriate legislative or other steps to prevent and
suppress the practice of enforced disappearances, in
keeping with the Declaration on the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and to take action
at the national and regional levels and in cooperation
with the United Nations to that end;

Calls upon Governments to take steps to ensure that, when
a state of emergency is introduced, the protection of
human rights is ensured, particularly as regards the
prevention of enforced disappearances;

Reminds Governments of the need to ensure that their
competent authorities conduct prompt and impartial
inquiries in all circumstances, whenever there is reason
to believe that an enforced disappearance has occurred in
territory under their jurisdiction;

Recalls that, if allegations are confirmed, perpetrators
should be prosecuted;

Once again urges the Governments concerned to take steps
to protect the families of disappeared persons against
any intimidation or ill-treatment to which they might be
subjected;

Encourages States, as some have already done, to provide
concrete information on measures taken to give effect to
the Declaration, as well as obstacles encountered;

Requests all States to consider the possibility of
disseminating the text of the Declaration in their
respective national languages and to facilitate its
dissemination in the national and local languages;

Notes the action taken by non-governmental organizations
to encourage implementation of the Declaration, and
invites them to continue to facilitate its dissemination
and to contribute to the work of the Subcommission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities;

Expresses its appreciation to the Working Group on
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances for its
humanitarian work;

Requests the Working Group, in the continued exercise of
its mandate, to take into account the provisions of the
Declaration and to modify its working methods if
necessary;

Invites the Working Group to identify obstacles to the
realization of the provisions of the Declaration and to
recommend ways of overcoming those obstacles, taking into
account the discussions of the Subcommission;

Furthermore encourages the Working Group to continue to
consider the question of impunity, in close collaboration
with the rapporteur appointed by the Subcommission and
with due regard for the relevant provisions of the
Declaration;

Requests the Working Group to pay the utmost attention to
cases of children subjected to enforced disappearance and
children of disappeared persons and to cooperate closely
with the Governments concerned to search for and identify
those children;

Appeals to the Governments concerned, particularly those
which have not yet replied to the communications
transmitted by the Working Group, to cooperate fully with
it and, in particular, to reply promptly to its requests
for information so that, while respecting its working
methods based on discretion, it may perform its strictly
humanitarian role;

Encourages the Governments concerned to give serious
consideration to inviting the Working Group to visit
their countries so as to enable the Working Group to
fulfil its mandate even more effectively;

Expresses its profound thanks to the many Governments
that have cooperated with the Working Group and replied
to its requests for information, and to the Governments
that have invited the Working Group to visit their
countries, asks them to give all necessary attention to
the Working Group's recommendations and invites them to
inform the Working Group of any action they take on those
recommendations;

Calls upon the Commission on Human Rights to continue to
study this question as a matter of priority and to take
any step it may deem necessary to the pursuit of the task
of the Working Group and to the follow-up of its
recommendations when it considers the report to be
submitted by the Working Group to the Commission at its
fifty-first session; (4)

Invites the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-first
session to consider extending for three years the term of
the mandate of the Working Group, as defined in
Commission resolution 20 (XXXVI) of 29 February 1980, (5)
while maintaining the principle of annual reporting, and
requests the Working Group to continue to fulfil its
mandate in a rigorous and constructive fashion;

Renews its request to the Secretary-General to continue
to provide the Working Group with all the facilities it
requires to perform its functions, especially in carrying
out missions and following them up;

Requests the Secretary-General to keep it informed of the
steps he takes to secure the widespread dissemination and
promotion of the Declaration ;

Also requests the Secretary-General to submit to it at
its fifty-first session a report on the steps taken to
implement the present resolution;

Decides to consider the question of enforced
disappearances, and in particular the implementation of
the Declaration, at its fifty-first session under the
sub-item entitled "Human rights questions, including
alternative approaches for improving the effective
enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms".

94th plenary meeting
23 December 1994

Notes
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Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Geneva, Switzerland